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Dark web users are nearly three times more likely to have a prior criminal conviction compared to surface web users (33.6% vs. 12.6%).
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Deviant peer groups, low self-control, and favorable attitudes toward violence are significantly more common among those who access the dark web.
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Nearly half of the connection between low self-control and dark web use is explained by the company people keep and the attitudes they form.
A new study just changed how we should think about the dark web. Researchers found clear behavioral patterns that separate its users from everyone else.
The dark web isn’t all criminal activity. But the people who go there share some surprising traits. And those traits look a lot like ones tied to real-world offending.
Comparing Regular Web Users vs. Dark Web Users
Researchers from Florida Atlantic University wanted to fill a major gap. They noticed that criminology-based studies comparing surface web and dark web users were scarce. So they decided to dig in.
The researchers sampled survey responses from 1,750 adults across the U.S. Their analysis was based on four specific things: prior criminal record, low self-control, association with deviant peers, and attitude towards crime. Then they checked which of these factors linked to self-reported dark web use.
The results, published in the Journal of Crime and Justice, are pretty eye-opening. About one-third of dark web users said they have a prior criminal conviction. That’s 33.6%, compared to about 12.6% of clear web users. So dark web users are nearly three times more likely to have a criminal record.
But that’s not all. Dark web users also scored much higher on measures of low self-control. We’re talking impulsive, risk-taking behavior. They had more friends who engage in online deviance. And the alarming part is these people see nothing wrong with breaking rules and even using physical violence on others.
Dark Web Users Share Similar Traits
To be clear, just accessing the dark web is not illegal. Ryan C. Meldrum, Ph.D., the study’s senior author, makes this point strongly. The dark web facilitates legitimate activities like private communication and accessing censored information. Many people use it for perfectly good reasons.
However, here’s what the research shows. The platform tends to attract individuals whose behavioral, social, and attitudinal profiles resemble that of those involved in criminal activity.
This attraction extends to the underground economy where stolen credentials are traded, dark web markets are currently flooded with logins from the UK’s biggest companies, demonstrating that while the platform has legitimate uses, it has also become a thriving marketplace for stolen corporate credentials, putting businesses and their customers at significant risk of data breaches and ransomware attacks.
In Meldrum’s words, the dark web is “a risky digital environment.” The nature of the dark web fosters crime and increases the odds of people ending up as victims. And the worst part? All this happens with barely any law enforcement oversight.
Dark Web Access is Associated with Low Self-Control
The study also uncovered something fascinating about low self-control. Supplemental analyses revealed that social learning factors help explain why low self-control links to dark web access. Almost half of that connection comes through the friends people hang out with and the behaviors they develop.
Interestingly, folks who struggle with self-control usually gravitate toward friends who are already into riskier or deviant behaviors. And those friends shape the way they think and teach them how to access the dark web. It’s a chain reaction, a wild domino effect if you think about it.
Furthermore, across all models, being male and younger also increased the likelihood of dark web use. Some models even suggested that being heterosexual and having more education were associated with it too.
Understanding Why People Use the Dark Web is Key
The study underscores a clear need for more research. Remarkably, it’s a pretty niche crowd we’re dealing with here, a subpopulation of internet users who visit the dark web, sometimes to illegal things.
Meldrum makes a solid point. He says understanding who accesses the dark web and what drives them to access it is actually super important. We need a balanced perspective when considering this. There needs to balance risk awareness with the knowledge that people use these hidden online spaces for totally legitimate purposes too.
Bottom line? That someone’s accessing the dark web doesn’t mean they’re a criminal. But the data suggests a concerning overlap. And that’s worth paying attention to.
